Anaphor

//ˈæ.nə.fɔɹ// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An expression referring to another expression. In stricter uses, an expression referring to something earlier in the discourse or, even more strictly, only reflexive and reciprocal pronouns.

    "Thus far, we have established that each other is an NP [noun phrase] which functions as a reciprocal anaphor requiring to take its reference from some antecedent elsewhere in the sentence, and that themselves is an NP which functions as a reflexive anaphor which also requires an antecedent to take its reference from."

  2. 2
    a word (such as a pronoun) used to avoid repetition; the referent of an anaphor is determined by its antecedent wordnet

Example

More examples

"Thus far, we have established that each other is an NP [noun phrase] which functions as a reciprocal anaphor requiring to take its reference from some antecedent elsewhere in the sentence, and that themselves is an NP which functions as a reflexive anaphor which also requires an antecedent to take its reference from."

Etymology

Back-formation from anaphora.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.